What Ever it Takes
by darth rat
Summary: A little fic from Lee's POV in Maelstrom. Spoilers up to Maelstrom, obviously. Please review!


**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this.**

**Spoilers: up to Maelstrom**

**Just a little thing that popped up in my head while I was re-watching the series. It's from Lee's POV, and it skips around a bit in time, so bear with me.**

--

"No! NO!"

--

She's just sitting there, underneath her Viper.

"Have you talked to her?"

"You talk to her."

I didn't blame the Chief. Starbuck's temper was legendary.

She looked at me. "I don't trust myself to go out there."

--

The groan of metal compressing hits my ears, even from another Viper.

--

"Then trust me. I'll fly your wing."

She snorted. "The CAG flying my number two?"

I looked at her. I love her, and that would never change. She would die if she was grounded.

"Whatever it takes."

--

"Starbuck, Apollo, I've lost you on DRADIS."

The first time I say it, I'm only mildly worried. Every second she doesn't reply, it's more obvious something is wrong. Her voice suddenly floods my comm system.

"Lee, I'm not afraid anymore."

What? "Say again?"

"I'm not afraid anymore."

I never heard the voices in the CIC, never heard Tigh, or Helo, or my father's plead to get her out of there. All I heard was Gaeta's voice over the wireless. "Ninety seconds to hard deck."

--

"How are things with you and Dee?

"Good. No. Better then good. Best they've ever been."

It's the truth, but I don't want to be with Dee. I want to be with her. We both know it. But all she can do is hurt me. That's the truth, and it can never be.

--

"Kara, listen to me. Forget the damn toaster. Climb now, or you're dead."

I can't see it, but her fighter hurtles through the atmosphere, falling, the hole in her cockpit blasting wind at her.

"We can still pull out of this, we haven't gone past the point of no return."

No answer. "Kara!"

--

"I'm happy for you."

I can't tell if it's true.

She let out a little laugh. "After all this time, we are right back where we started. You're the CAG, and I'm your hotshot problem pilot. I guess that's all we'll ever be."

--

"Sixty seconds to hard deck."

Dee's voice is on the comm, directing the other fighters to us. I tune her out. I have to find Kara.

"Gods damnit, where are you?!"

I'm going down into the planet, accelerating in the hopes of finding her. If I'm not careful, I'll get sucked in too. But is that really so bad? There cant be a Apollo with out a Starbuck.

Suddenly, there she is, I catch a glimpse of something else, may be the Heavy Raider she was talking about. But I concentrate on her.

"Visual. Visual, okay, Kara, I'm coming to get you."

--

On that stupid algae planet, in the Raptor with her, Dee not far away, knowing but not saying anything.

--

"Lee, I'll see you on the other side."

I pleaded with her. "Kara, please listen to me, come back."

"You just have to let me go."

No way I'm doing that. No chance.

--

The groundbreaking ceremony on New Caprica. Now that I think of it, from the moment she grabbed my hand a dragged me to the site of her "new house", she just wanted me. And not just for a quick frak. But she wasn't expecting what I said.

"Are you sure I'm what you want?"

"Yeah, you're what I want. I love you Kara Thrace."

--

"Gods damnit Kara, you come back. Come back!"

My throat horse, she tried to reassure me.

"It's okay, just let me go."

--

She ran away that day. That's what she's best at. Running. That's why I didn't leave Dee for her. I was to afraid that she'd do it again. Maybe I should have gone with her. It was too late now.

--

"They're waiting for me."

That was the last thing I heard from her, a cryptic message. Her Viper hurtled down, the leading edges of her wings catching on fire, her ship compressing before exploding in a brilliant ball of flames.

"No! NO!"

I didn't even realize that I had screamed, and suddenly I didn't care if I went in.

My dad's voice crackled over the intercom. "Apollo, get out of there, abort! Abort!"

I considered ignoring him and following her in, but he had lost enough for one day. Grunting from the effort, I pulled up on the stick, and left the remnants of the explosion behind me. My voice broke as I told him that she was gone. There was no chute.

I turned back to Galactica, and prepared to land in the hanger bay. There was a possibility that my ship might break apart from the strain that had been put on it, but I didn't care. She was gone. It wouldn't be the same again.

--

**I hope you liked it. Next to Unfinished Business, I think that it might have been the most emotional episode in S3. Please Review. It's always nice to know what needs improving.**


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